Method of converting paper back books to hard back books



Aug 8, 1967 CRAWFORD METHOD OF CONVERTING PAPER BACK BOOKS TO HARD BACK BOOKS Filed Oct. 24, 1965 Z5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR J AY CR Aw F O R D m1 v ATTORNEY J. CRAWFORD METHOD OF CONVERTING PAPER BACK BOOKS TO HARD BACK BOOKS Aug. 8, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 24. 1965 INVENTOR JAY CRAWF'OR D ru z I ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,334,919 METHOD OF CONVERTING PAPER BACK BOOKS T HARD BACK BOOKS Jay Crawford, 2249 14th St., Akron, Ohio 44314 Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,404 4 Claims. (Cl. 281-29) This invention relates to the converting of paper back books into hard back books, quickly and inexpensively, including those having narrow margins which make it seemingly impossible to convert, so that such converted books can be fully opened to allow the text to be clearly visible for easy holding and reading.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method of converting paper back books to hard back books in a simple economical manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for producing hard back books which will remain open without damaging the backbone of the book.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1, is an illustration of a step by step method of converting a paper back book to a book with a sewn binding;

FIG. 2, is an illustration of a step by step method of fabricating the hard back itself;

FIG. 3, is an illustration of a step by step procedure for applying the hard back to the book; and

FIG. 4, is a perspective of a modified method of sewing books.

Briefly stated, in converting a paper back book to a hard back book the paper back and excess pages down to the title page are removed and a number of such books are placed in a stack and a strip of hard animal glue is applied across the backs of the books to maintain them in stacked relation. The books are detached and fed into an oversewing machine where the segments are sewn together, approximately A; of an inch from the edge of the page. The books are individually detached and trimmed, the backbones or sewn backs of the books are treated with polyvinyl glue, a cloth hinge and end sheets are sewn to the book, the backbone portion of the book is rounded and a reinforcing cloth is secured over the backbone with polyvinyl glue and extends around the hinge after which the hard back is applied to the book and the several parts are joined together.

The cover itself is prepared by cutting new binders boards which meet the Library Institutes requirements as to proper weight and thickness according to the size and format of the book. Class A cloth or buckram of a color to match the original color of the book is selected and trimmed leaving the necessary margin or turn-in portion and then the buckram is placed on a flat surface and coated with flexible animal glue after which the boards are applied to the buckram. The edges of the buckram are turned in and the parts are pressed together to exclude excess air and to insure adhesion, after which the cover is ready to be fitted onto the book.

In applying, the cover is fitted onto the book and the parts are pressed together and a boned in groove is made along the edge near the back at each side of the book. The book is allowed to dry and thereafter the title in a contrasting color of foil is applied by a hot stamp onto the backbone. Glue is applied to the end sheets on the back but never to the backbone because to do so would reduce if not destroy its flexibility.

In greater detail the process and mechanism for converting a paper back book to a hard back involves removing the paper back front and rear covers and 11 respectively and the original glue or sewing from the book 12 by means of a knife 13 which may constitute 3,334,919 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 a portion of a bracket stripper of conventional character (not shown). In addition to the front and back covers, excess pages 14 and 15 are removed down to the title page 16.

A number of the books 12 are placed in a stack 17 and a strip of hard animal glue 18 is applied along the backs of the books in the stack to hold the pages of the books together. The books are independently detached from the stack by cutting through the glue section 18 and a batch of leaves forming a section of the book are fed by hand or any other desired means to an oversewing machine Where they are sewn together.

The oversewing machine is of conventional character and includes a support 19, carried by a swivelly connected screw 20, threaded through a bracket 21 carrying a plate 22 and connected by a pivot 23 to the base of an oversewing machine 24. The screw 20 may be rotated in any desired manner, by hand or otherwise, for example by means of a wheel 25, to move the support 19 with the book 12 thereon toward and from the needle 26 of the oversewing machine.

The needle 26 is disposed at an angle of approximately 70 degrees to the pages of the book 12 and in order to maintain the pages in place, a retention plate 27 is provided having an opening 28 through which the needle 26 can pass. The needle also passes through an opening 29 in the plate 22. A pair of adapters 19' and 27' which are generally triangular in cross-section are placed between and in engagement with the support '19 and plate 27 respectively and in opposed relation with each other. When the first section of the book 12 is placed between the adapters 19 and 27, the support 19 will be in the upper or highest position to be sewn through. Thereafter, the support 19 will be lowered and the next and succeeding sections of leaves will be placed in position on top of the first section and sewn through.

Due to the angularity of the adapters, the sections of leaves will abut the plate 22 at an angle less than so that the glued edges of the leaves of each section will be olfset from and extend slig-htly beyond the glued edges of the next lowermost section of leaves. As each section of leaves is added, a series of holes are punched therethrough approximately 42 of an inch from the glued edges after which the needle 26 penetrates the holes and forms loops of stitching. Each loop of the stitching extends through approximately 2 .or 3 sections and as many sections as desired may be added to produce a book of any thickness with the screw 20 rotated to lower the support 19 as each section of leaves is added and sewn to the preceding sections. The thickness of each section of leaves is chosen in proportion to the thickness of the individual leaves, for example, for ordi nary leaves each section may be about of an inch in thickness. As each section is added, punched, and the needle moved through it sewing it to the two or three previous sections thereof multiple holes are produced in each sheet until the entire thickness of the book is obtained including new front and back leaves 30 and 31 with attaching side hinge flaps 32 and 33. Thus, the sewing together of the leaves substantially /e of an inch from the edge allows the book to be opened, in a manner fully to expose the text allowing the pages easily to be read.

It is necessary that the needle be at the proper angle to engage the proper number of leaves and if the needle is not at the proper angle proper sewing Within the narrow margin of the page Will not be accomplished. The spacing of the sewing from each end of the book is approximately to /1 of an inch. After the book is completed as above described it is trimmed for evenness usually approximately to M; of an inch at the top, bottom, and front edges.

In order to prepare the book for the fitting on of a cover 9, the book is placed between clamping plates 35 and its backbone or sewn portions are forcibly engaged by a roller 36 and rolled into a rounded contour 37. This rounding of the backbone of the book in conjunction with stitching close to the edge of the pages thereof is most important in order that the book may be easily opened and the text fully visible and readable when opened. By providing the desired curvature the book 12 may be opened easily and kept open with minimum attention and effort rendering the text in full view for easy reading. In preparing the book to receive the back, a cloth hinge 34 is attached by polyvinyl glue to the sewn portion of the book and the sides of such hinge extend outwardly to a position overlying the hinge flaps 32 and 33.

In preparing the cover 9, a hard board backing of new binders board is cut to the desired size, this includes identical front and back portions 38 and an intermediate hinge covering portion 39. A cloth 40 is provided and such cloth may be carried on a roll 41 and be detached from the roll as it is unwound and trimmed so that it will have a margin greater than that of board members 38 and 39 sufficient to allow such margins to be turned over so that they overlap the boards. Preferably, the cloth is of Class A buckram and of a color to match the original color of the book. The intermediate board 39 may be in the form of a strip, fed through concavo convex rollers 42 and 43 to give the strip the desired transverse curvature so it will fit snugly against the rounded backbone of the book. In assembling the parts, the cloth 40 may have flexible or animal glue applied to the surface next to which the boards 38 and 39 are to be applied after which the boards are placed in position and the corners and sides of the cloth are folded over, one at a time, and inserted in the slot 44 of a turning-in machine 45 folding over the cloth 40 onto the boards 39 and 39. The glue causes it to remain in such turned over position after the edges are turned over and adhesively fastened to the boards. The cloth with the boards attached in a flat condition are pressed between opposed rollers 46 which remove the air and insure adhesion to the board. Thus, the cover 9 is ready to be fitted onto the book.

The manner of applying the cover 9 to the book 12 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The cover is applied and fitted to the book so that the book is centrally disposed in the cover and the parts are pressed together after which a groove 49 is boned in. In other words, a tool 47 having a rounded extremity 48 is moved along the edge of the .book next to the hinge to form a groove 49 at each side of the book. The back of the cover is then marked with a hot stamp 50 that is applied by foil to provide the cloth covering of the backbone of the book with the title in contrasting color to the cloth to which it is applied. Thereafter, the hinge fiaps 32 and 33 and the sides of the cloth hinge 34 are attached to the front and back portions 38 by an adhesive 51 and a pair of end sheets 52 are applied to cover the turned-in edges of the cloth 40 and the hinge flaps 32 and 33. The paper back front cover is attached to the outside front of the hard back cover 9 in any desired manner as by an adhesive and the book is then put into a press having a base 53 and a head 54 and subjected to a pressure of 15,000 to 18,000 pounds platen pressure to insure complete adhesion. The book is thus completed except for cleaning any excess glue and inspection.

By applying glue to the hinge flaps and end leaves, and not applying such glue to the backbone, a highly flexible book with a stiif back is provided which can be fully opened exposing the text so that it can be easily read.

With reference to FIG. 4, a modified form of sewing the book is illustrated in which the needle 26 passes straight through the book 12 generally at a right angle to the book. In this type of sewing, the stitches must be maintained at a margin of approximately As" from the backbone and the first and last stitches can be no closer than A from either end of the book. This method of sewing does not require the removal of the original glue and/or sewing. Otherwise, the steps are the same.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of converting an unstitched book to a stitched hard cover book comprising the steps of removing the cover from a paper back book, separating said book into a plurality of sections of leaves having substantially the same thickness, providing an oversewing machine having a threaded needle and an adjustable support and an upper retention plate, providing a pair of opposed adapters between said adjustable support and said retention plate, placing a first section of leaves between said adapters and stitching said leaves together approximately /3 of an inch from one side edge, placing a second section of leaves on said first section and in offset relation thereto, stitching said second section of leaves together and to said first section approximately A3 of an inch from one edge of said second section, stitching additional sections of leaves together with the stitching extending through at least two sections of leaves, rounding the stitched portions of said book to provide an armate backbone, attaching a cloth hinge means to said backbone, preparing a hard back cover for said stitched sections of leaves, placing said hard back cover on said stitched sections of leaves, and connecting said hinge means to said hard back cover, whereby an unstitched book will be stitched together and provided with a hard cover which will allow easy and full opening of said book.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said sections of leaves are approximately of an inch thick.

3. The method of claim 1 in which said stitching terminated approximately /2 of an inch from the ends of each section of leaves.

4. The method of converting an unstitched paper back book to a stitched hard back book comprising the steps of: removing the cover from a glued paper back book, applying a hard glue to the back of said book, separating said book into sections of approximately 3 inch thickness, providing an oversewing machine having a threaded needle and an adjustable support and a retention plate, inserting a pair of opposed generally triangular adapters between said adjustable support and said retention plate, placing a first section of leaves between said adapters and stitching said leaves together approximately /3 of an inch from one side edge, said stitching extending substantially the entire length of said section and terminating approximately /2 of an inch from each end, placing a second section of leaves on said first section and in olfset overlapping relation thereto, stitching said second section of leaves together and to said first section approximately /8 of an inch from one side edge of said second section, stitching additional sections of leaves together with the stitching extending through at least two sections of leaves until all of the sections of leaves have been stitched together, rounding the stitched portions of said book to provide an arcuate backbone, attaching a cloth hinge to said backbone, preparing a hard back cover for said stitched sections of leaves, placing said hard back cover on said stitched sections of leaves, connecting said cloth hinge to said hard back cover, and applying end sheets to said hard back cover and said cloth hinge, whereby an unstitched book will be stitched together in a manner to allow the book to be opened to fully expose the text.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,161,423 12/1964 Hertzberg 28129 FOREIGN PATENTS 829,497 3/ 1960 Great Britain. 917,574 2/1963 Great Britain.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF CONVERTING AN UNSTITCHED BOOK TO A STITCHED HARD COVER BOOK COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: REMOVING THE COVER FROM A PAPER BACK BOOK, SEPARATING SAID BOOK INTO A PLURALITY OF SECTIONS OF LEAVES HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME THICKNESS, PROVIDING AN OVERSEWING MACHINE HAVING A THREADED NEEDLE AND AN ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT AND AN UPPER RETENTION PLATE, PROVIDING A PAIR OF OPPOSED ADAPTERS BETWEEN SAID ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT AND SAID RETENTION PLATE, PLACING A FIRST SECTION OF LEAVES BETWEEN SAID ADAPTERS AND STITCHING SAID LEAVES TOGETHER APPROXIMATELY 1/8 OF AN INCH FROM ONE SIDE EDGE, PLACING A SECOND SECTION OF LEAVES ON SAID FIRST SECTION AND IN OFFSET RELATION THERETO, STITCHING SAID SECOND SECTION OF LEAVES TOGETHER AND TO SAID FIRST SECTION APPROXIMATELY 1/8 OF AN INCH FROM ONE EDGE OF SAID SECOND SECTION, STITCHING ADDITIONAL SECTIONS OF LEAVES TOGETHER WITH THE STITCHING EXTENDING THROUGH AT LEAST TWO SECTIONS OF LEAVES, ROUNDING THE STITCHED PORTIONS OF SAID BOOK TO PROVIDE AN ARCUATE BACKBONE, ATTACHING A CLOTH HINGE MEANS TO SAID BACKBONE, PREPARING A HARD BACK COVER FOR SAID STITCHED SECTIONS OF LEAVES, PLACING SAID HARD BACK COVER ON SAID STITCHED SECTIONS OF LEAVES, AND CONNECTING SAID HINGE MEANS TO SAID HARD BACK COVER, WHEREBY AN UNSTITCHED BOOK WILL BE STITCHED TOGETHER AND PROVIDED WITH A HARD COVER WHICH WILL ALLOW EASY AND FULL OPENING OF SAID BOOK. 